June 07, 2006

Radical Islam in Mexico

Disturbing report by the ISN on the growth of Islam south of the border. I would be more frightened by it if I did not know that there is a much larger threat of home-grown Islamists here in the United States, than in Mexico. But still, the threat is real.

The ISN report tends to whitewash the rise of Islam in Mexico, citing lack of evidence of Muslim groups their to violent jihad. However, as we have said for a long time now, the threat is not just from jihadis committed to violence but to those who advocate the same goals as jihadis, even if they wish to pursue those goals non-violently. That goal, Sharia law and the Caliphate, is every bit as dangerous and evil as Communism was and must be fought with the same vigor.

In the same way that wherever Marxism has gone, political oppression followed, so to wherever Islam goes, radicalism must inevetably follow, since the core text of Islam, the Koran, advocates both violent jihad and the institution of Islamic law.

Here are some of the highlights from the ISN report. First, a this on an Islamic group with links to Nazi apologists:

The Murabitun (the Almoravids, after the African Muslim dynasty that ruled North Africa and Spain in the 11th and 12th century) also has a presence in Mexico (www.cislamica.org). The group is a well-funded international Sufi order based in Granada, Spain that claims thousands of followers across the globe, including many European converts. It is also regarded as one of the most aggressive missionary movements in Latin America and a major rival of Omar Weston's CCIM. It was founded in the 1970s by Sheikh Abdel Qader as-Sufi al-Murabit, a Scottish Muslim convert born Ian Dallas who was formerly a playwright and actor. Dallas is a controversial figure who, among other things, is a vocal critic of international capitalism and modern forms of finance. Although there is no evidence linking him or his organization to violence or terrorism, he has been accused of harboring pro-Nazi leanings and other radical ideologies. Othman Abu-Sahnun, an Italian Muslim convert and former ranking member of the Murabitun who had a falling out with the group, dedicates an entire website accusing his former leader of extremism, corruption and being party to alleged sinister conspiracies involving Freemasonry (www.murabitun.cyberummah.org).

Islam is spreading its anti-Western hate in Chiapas, where it finds an indigenous population already sympathetic to Qutbian arguments linking alleged Western Imperialism to a war against the ummah:

Muslim missionary groups, especially the Murabitun, which is led by Aurelino Perez in the region, and Omar Weston's CCIM, use similar tactics in an effort to win over adherents in Chiapas. In addition to providing much needed social welfare and humanitarian aid, the Murabitun argue that Catholicism represents a vestige of European imperialism that is directly responsible for the destruction of Mayan culture. Likewise, Catholicism is seen as a tool of the state that is to blame for the poverty and plight of the indigenous peoples. The anti-capitalist message of the Murabitun in particular also resonates with some of the impoverished locals. Murabitun discourse even emphasizes what it describes as the close cultural and ethnic links between the indigenous peoples of the region and the Muslim Moors who once ruled Spain. Therefore, conversion to Islam represents a reversion to their original identity, essentially an assertion of cultural and ethnic identity long suppressed by European colonialism. The Murabitun went as far as to engage Subcommandante Marcos and his Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), following the group's armed rebellion in Chiapas in 1994, in an effort to gain support (www.ezln.org.mx)...

Reports pointing to possible terrorist links with Muslim missionaries in Chiapas have surfaced in the Mexican and Spanish media. Spanish authorities have raised suspicions about possible links between Spanish members of the Murabitun living in Chiapas and radical Islamists in Spain. Other reports have even linked the group with Basque separatist movements such as ETA. Othman Abu-Sahnun is a proponent of this theory (www.murabitun.cyberummah.org). Mexican authorities have also investigated the activities of the Murabitun due to reports of alleged immigration and visa abuses involving the group's European members and possible radical links, including to al-Qaida [7]. Despite these allegations and extensive media hype in Mexico and other Spanish-language press, no concrete evidence has surfaced to date substantiating such claims.